246 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, July 17, 1860. 
small pale blue and white flowers never fail to please, and when 
out of flower its small preen leaves seldom look unhealthy. It is 
a plant well adapted for the rockery and front of the mixed 
border. In the latter situation I have seen it in full flower plots 
measuring more than a yard across. It is easy to propagate; 
small pieces inserted in the open ground rarely fail to grow, and it 
is one of those plants that ought not to be cut. away at the edges. 
If it be so treated it is liable to die away in the centre of the 
plant, and grow in patches and look unsightly ; it then requires 
the earth to be changed or to be planted in a fresh situation. 
The cold, ungenial summer has been much against the flower¬ 
ing of Sisyrinchium anceps. This plant, like many other beauties, 
Bhows to best advantage in bright sunshine. If the weather he 
in the least cloudy, the flowers will shut up and remain closed 
till finer weather ; but even with this fault, it is a plant well worth 
growing in the front of the mixed border. Those who possess this 
plant and desire to increase their stock, will find that the smallest 
pieces with a single root-fibre will grow and make a plant. With 
me it grows from self-sown seeds like hay seeds, and may easily 
he mistaken for grass, by those who do not know the plant. 
The Erantliis hyemalis (Winter Aconite) did not flower with 
me this spring. I had not a single flower, and the roots have 
not been moved for several years. One of my neighbours has 
a bed four yards long and a yard wide, and he had only four 
blooms. I should like to know if others have been in a similar 
situation.— Rustic Robin. 
OIL AS A DESTROYER OF THE SCALE 
» INSECT. 
In one of your late numbers I noticed sweet oil recommended 
as a cure for scale, &c., and having some plants much troubled 
with aphides, I immediately applied it to them ; but I fear with 
poor success, as, although the insect seems killed, the leaves are 
also dead. The fronds of Adiantum formosum and A. morityia- 
num which were oiled seem quite injured likewise. The young 
shoots of some out-door Roses which were covered with aphides 
would, I hoped, be benefited ; but the leaves are now crisp, black, 
and dead. A small Acacia tree was some time since attacked with 
scale. After washing the stems with oil it looked better for a 
time, hut the lower leaves are now falling olf. They turn yellow 
and drop in showers if the tree be slightly shaken. It is kept in 
a vinery where the Grapes are going off very much. Two months 
ago they looked promising, and with the exception of four Bar- 
barossa Vines, were laden with fruit (on the latter there was but 
one small bunch). The Grapes now, chiefly White Tokays , seem 
failing ; the berries turn brown and rotten, and do not swell 
properly. We have washed the pipes for some time with sulphur, 
but they do not improve. Can you assign a reason for their 
failure, and is it too late to save them this season ? We have a 
Passion-Flower that never flowered : it had been kept, in a hot 
greenhouse or vinery, but we have now planted it on a south 
verandah. Do you think it will bo more likely to bloom in 
these situations, and, when pruned, what time of year is best? 
Would you also inform me whether 3laurandya Barclayana and 
major Convolvolus will flower in the winter in a greenhouse, and 
is so, what time should seeds be soivn to insure their flowering 
early ?— Pu.IEANTHOS. 
[Sweet, oil is not suitable for destroying the green fly or aphis, 
but only the scale insects. If it is sweet oil, true , it will not 
hurt the tenderest leaf in careful hands. If you had tested it, as 
we directed, on a Geranium leaf or leaves, you would know the 
difference and danger of your mixture of some horrid stuff which 
you bought for sweet Olive oil; and if you had read more care¬ 
fully, you would have known that the application was not intended 
against aphides; nor should the entire surface of any leaf be oiled. 
Try better oil on those mealy bugs on the Apple trees to the 
right, ns you go into Worcester from your residence, and let us 
hear the result. A vinery with Tokay and Barbarossa Grapes, 
or Muscats, ought, to have had the pipes, or flues, going every 
day from the 10th of last May to the 1st of July, and on to 
eight or nine o’clock in the evening, so ns to counteract the chill 
and cheerless weather we had in that time. But why did you use 
sulphur if you did not see mildew ? and if you saw mildew 7 yon 
ought to have told us. Sulphur is just as dangerous among all 
kinds of plants as gunpowder is among animals. Your crop is 
done for this year, we fear. There is only one kind of Passion- 
Flower that will bloom out of doors, and it should be pruned in 
| April like Tea Roses. None of the Maurandyas, and no one of 
the Convolvuluses will flower in a greenhouse in winter. Sow, 
j or raise, at any time, or in any manner whatever.] 
SPERGULA PILIFERA—CRINOLINE POTS. 
Since I read your article in The Cottage Gardener on 
“ Spergula, Crinoline Pots, &c,” I have, by Mr. Summers’ per¬ 
mission, had the pleasure of walking and talking over the lawns, 
and also of looking closely into the shape and the way in which 
his crinoline pots are constructed, and the growth of the root 
and branch of the kinds of plauts cultivated in them. It is now 
nearly four years ago that I saw, for the first time, the first lawn 
formed of Spergula pilifera that 1 ever heard of. I have seen it 
a great many times since that, both in summer and winter, and 
on the 23rd of last month I could not perceive that it had even 
increased a quarter of an inch in thickness since I first saw it: 
but. I find that it still retains that verdant freshness which at all 
times makes it an attractive object in the garden or pleasure- 
ground. 
I have been informed that during the past two years that many 
have tried hard to cultivate the said plant successfully ; but un¬ 
fortunately they have been misguided I fear, by those who 
should have known better than to advise purchasers to sow the 
seed in pots, pans, frames, hothouses, or in some secluded, densely- 
shaded corner of the garden; so that I am not at all surprised to 
■ hear reports of failure as the result of their experiment. 
I have seen it. grown and doing well in different parts of 
England. One plot worth notice was in Mr. Pince’s nursery 
at Exeter. It looked exceedingly well, and should by this time, 
if it has been rightly managed, be well established, and worthy to 
be compared with the lawns at Forest Hill, under the superin¬ 
tendence of Mr. Summers, of the Crystal Palace Nursery, 
Sydenham. 
I have in my charge here, where the soil is light sandy loam, 
a plot planted with Spergula pilifera. It has been laid down 
about five months, and some pieces that were planted just as 
they came from the nursery have pushed shoots four inches 
long; but others that I divided into very small patches were so 
injured that they have only just now made a start. But if Sper¬ 
gula pilifera should not. cover our light, sandy soil so fast as we 
could wish, it is a.consolation to know that the proprietor of the 
Crystal Palace Nursery possesses another species of Spergula, 
well adapted for any soil, whatever may be its nature; and any 
who visit his nursery with their eyes open, will soon see what 
species is best adapted for their particular kind of soil or situation. 
I must confess I am quite a convert to what Mr. Summers is 
pleased to call “ crinoline pots,” for many kinds of plants, 
especially for Fuchsias, Achitnenes, Ferns, Gesneras, and many 
kinds of Orchids ; but I fear that such plants as Heaths, 
Pimeleas, Leschenaultins, and others, would not be benefited 
much by a crinoline. I cannot see how their roots are to be 
kept in a uniform state. 
Ferns of nearly every description are cultivated in them by 
Mr. Summers. By-the-by, he has the outsides richly furnished 
with rare kinds of Selaginella, and I must say they are highly 
interesting objects grown in this way. 
As some of Mr. Summers’ experiments are only in their 
infancy, perhaps I cannot do better than to wait patiently t.o 
hear the result, and say little more about them now. Probably, 
when his plans are matured, we may have the pleasure of hearing 
that he has ways and means of keeping any kind of plant in 
perfect health and beauty, as some of his Fuchsias, Ferns, &c., 
are at. present. Let us hope soon to learn that success is the 
result of keeping plants in crinoline.—J. Moon, Pelham, near 
Canterbury. 
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE SEASHORE. 
{Continuedfrom page 180.) 
CHAP. IV.—JELLY FISH, OR SEA JELLY. 
The next order of Radiated Polypes to which we have to direct 
attention is a large family of strange creatures which may be 
generally denominated Jelly Fish, or Sea Jelly ; they are fre¬ 
quently called Medusa:, or Gorgons’ Heads : this classical title 
having been given them from their organs of motion being spread 
out like the snaky hair of the fabulous Medusa. They are also 
called Acalephes, from a Greek word signifying a Nettle; some 
